June marks the official kick-off for the wedding season when many young couples will begin a new life together.  Newlyweds face numerous changes, particularly during their first year of marriage…mostly good changes but some challenging ones as well.  One of the more difficult changes often relates to the best way to mesh personal finances.  If you nail this down from the very beginning, you will have laid a solid foundation that will help to build a strong marriage for your entire life together.  It’s not that hard but it does take a commitment of time, both on the front-end and along the way.  Here’s how to get and stay on the financial track to success:

·        Show all your cards.  Whether you are engaged or newly married, sit down and make a list of all that you own and all that you owe.  To assist you with this, I’ve created an Asset/Liability form for your use.  Go to the Resource Center of www.welchgroup.com and click on ‘Asset-Liability Form’.  This important first step allows both of you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your current finances.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the amount of savings you have between you or you may recognize that one of your first challenges will be to deal with the debts you have accumulated.  Regardless of the outcome, it is much better to know than to not know.  Knowing where you stand lays the groundwork for the next step.

·        Set your goals.  This is the exciting part where you get to sit down and talk about your dreams for your future together.  I recommend that you set 1-year, 3-year, 10-year and 20-year goals.  Make sure that your goals, at a minimum, include reducing consumer debt, building up some cash reserves and saving towards retirement.  You may determine that one of your main objectives is to eliminate all of your consumer debt.  For many people, this task can seem overwhelming.  To help you, I have developed a system that will literally allow you to explode your way out of debt.  I call it the ‘Debt Pyramid Reduction Strategy™’.  If you would like to receive this kit, email me at [email protected] and put ‘Debt Kit’ in the subject line.  I will email you back this strategy kit as an attachment.

·        Establish good habits.  Once you have decided on your goals, it’s time to put into motion the actions necessary to begin making those goals become a reality.  Next week, in Part II of this series, I’ll provide details of the habits you will need to master.  For now, let’s take a quick peek at the habits you will need to succeed.

1. Budgeting.  Clearly, if you plan to accomplish financial goals, you will need to learn to manage our income and expenses.  I’ll share with you an unconventional budgeting system for newlyweds (and everyone else) that will take most of the hassle out of the traditional budgeting process.
2. Regular Reviews.  Life has a way of constantly changing and you must be prepared to change with it.  Monitoring your progress must be part of your success plan.  I’ll discuss how often you should do your reviews and what your agenda will be.
3. Automate Your Success.  I’ll discuss what some of your minimum financial goals should be and share how you can ‘guarantee’ your success.

All of that is for next week.  For now, your success assignment is to complete your Asset/Liability Form and set your financial goals.